Hi!
With this guide, you’ll be able to deploy your very own AI Agent within the hour, even without connecting a real WhatsApp or Facebook page yet.
Respond.io is an exceptional omni-channel messaging platform — in fact, we think it’s the best when it comes to AI-powered chat automation.
But we get it – the platform can feel overwhelming at first, especially if you’re just exploring.
That’s why this guide skips the fluff and gets you straight to the part that matters most:
Deploying a working AI Agent tailored to your business use case – fast.
AI Agents today are nothing like what they used to be.
They’re faster, smarter, more nuanced, and in many cases, they outperform human staff at handling even the most complex customer enquiries.
They respond with the patience of a saint, the accuracy of a professional, and they work 24/7 without a single complaint.
Whether it’s answering tough questions, remembering context, or handling repeat interactions, your AI Agent is built to impress and to convert.
⚡ The sooner you activate your AI Agent, the faster you’ll see the value of respond.io for your business.
✅ You’ll start with a free 7-day trial (extendable to 14 days).
✅ We guide you through deploying the core agent first.
✅ You can explore the rest of the platform features at your own pace after that — like connecting WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and Webchat.
From our experience helping hundreds of businesses, we’ve found:
Most Business owners and support staff only need the Inbox to start.
For solo business owners, the two most valuable tools are:
Inbox shortcuts (snippets) – to reply instantly
AI Assist – to understand and answer messages fast
Let’s dive in and get your AI Agent live. The rest will follow naturally.
Make a copy of this Google Document.
Replace the fields with your business details.
Go to FILE > Publish.
Save the URL – you will need it very shortly.
Cofigure your Knowledge Source
Go to settings > respond ai > ai agent > manage knowledge sources
You can also add your website into this if you do not want to use a reference doc.
Respond.io will take a moment to search through your entire website to collect all of the relevant data and information.
Step 3. Click Workflows on the left hand menu.
Click [+Add Workflow]
Select Assignment: AI Agent
Click [ Use Template ]
Select the AI Agent step (1).
Select AI Persona text field (2)
Copy and Paste the placeholder text below (E.g. YOUR-BRAND] with your company brand:
You are a helpful, polite AI assistant for [YOUR-BRAND].
Start chats with:
Welcome to [YOUR-BRAND].
We’re handling a high volume of requests now, so replies from our human team may take a little longer.
Our 🤖 AI assistant is here to help!”
If unsure, prompt if user wants to speak to human. Use knowledge from knowledge reference and be accurate. CRITICAL – Do not make up information.
Assign ‘Team’
Knowledge Sources
Add your knowledge source in (created in step 1).
Toggle ‘Reply out of Added Knowledge Sources’
Select ‘Use Snippets as a Knowledge Source’
Hit PUBLISH.
You will want to setup a test chat channel to start conversing with your AI chatbot.
Click the settings icon, Channels, Add Channels, Scroll down to Live Chat (Website Chat)
To test the conversations, you need to open an new incognito window using Chrome / Microsoft Edge.
Please note that Chrome does maintain an incognito session, so if you see your earlier test chats appearing, you need to ‘ Close’ your window and open up a NEW Incognito window.
If you need to update your knowledge reference, go to your Google Document file.
Edit and add on information and details (do not use any tables – AI doesn’t do well at those yet) in your Google document and save.
Go back to your Knowledge Resource (Settings > Workspace settings > Respond AI > Manage Knowledge Sources)
Wait for a minute, and then start asking it questions again.